Opinion: Jo-Ann makes the right call in reinstating employee who was fired while on leave for cancer treatment

Right won this past week when a national fabric store reinstated a Highland woman who had worked for the company 20 years before her termination while undergoing cancer treatment.

Deborah Browning, 60, got word early Saturday that Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft would rehire her immediately and that her medical leave would be granted until a doctor cleared her to return to work.

Browning has been on leave since March, when she began treatment for breast cancer. She is cancer-free today, although she remains under her doctor's care for preventive treatment.

Though Browning provided documentation the company requested in order to hold her job, she learned Nov. 9 the Jo-Ann's had decided to end her employment at the Redlands store.

Companies, of course, are legally empowered to decide whether to grant extended medical leave for workers. But it's eyebrow-raising, to say the least, to terminate a woman undergoing cancer treatment - a loyal employee who looks forward to returning to work.

Thankfully, Jo-Ann's took a second look at Browning's case and made the right call.